Disney/Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command

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Without much originality, Buzz Lightyear isn't half bad. But, that other half ...

By Adam Cleveland

Here we go again. Another spin-off of another franchise, turned videogame. If I've seen it happen once, I've seen it happen a hundred times. This time, the target is Buzz Lightyear, main character of beloved "Toy Story" fame. His infamy, thanks in part to Tim Allen, has won himself a thirty-minute time slot on TV, and with it comes the opportunity for another unoriginal game producer to cash in. When Buzz skipped out of the third-dimension to star in his own series, he left behind a lot of the charm he once had. Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command isn't all that bad, but I wouldn't be brazen enough to say that it goes to infinity and beyond.

Gameplay Playing with Buzz was better in his last game on PlayStation, Toy Story 2. This time, you follow the exploits of everyone's favorite space-age hero as you replay events that occur in his television program. Those of you expecting Woody will be disappointed, because he's nowhere to be found. The cast of good guys includes Buzz himself, Mira, Booster, and X-R. The villains, who literally spew evil from each orifice of their bodies, are Emperor Zurg and his vile henchmen. Gravatina, Torque, Skreel, and others are some of the pawns you'll face.

Basically, the point to each level is to race to the end, then beat the crap out of the stage's boss. Before each level begins, Buzz is briefed by Commander Nebula, and then things blast off. In the first stage, the galactic alliance's agricultural center is being pestered by one of Torque's thugs. Immediately when you start, you face off against him. Buzz suggests that the thug should stop his charade and give up. Yeah, like there would be a game if the bad guys just gave up. Torque's pawn takes off, and you have to chase him to the end of the stage.

This is the norm for each level you encounter in the game. You start off in front of the villain, he/she exclaims that you'll never win, and you have to race to the finish simply so you can blow your enemy to smithereens. This action/racing hybrid is a little strange. A big question is also raised: Why can't you injure the boss until you confront it past the finish line? No matter how much you unload your ammo on Zurg's minions, you won't deal a pinch of damage until you face off for real.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command confuses itself too much. It's hard to pinpoint the genre, because it tries to paste itself together with elements from other games. The racing portion is downright pointless. Here you are at the beginning of a level, right in front of the boss. Instead of being able to kick the poo out of it, you have to run past dozens of robotic enemies, guns, and land mines while dodging rocks, pits, lava, and other obstacles. If the boss makes it to the finish line before you do, you have about 15 seconds to catch up before you fail the mission. If you make it to the finish line first, Mira, your partner, shows up and saps some of the boss's energy for you.

The racing portion detracts from the experience you'd otherwise have. Because you're in such a hurry to make it to the end, there's little time to explore and collect items that you'd otherwise be able to get. If the developers had just stuck with the 'platformer' idea in mind, Buzz's adventure would be a much more enjoyable game. The linear, on-rails feel that Buzz Lightyear of Star Command entertains is one that presents more problems than it addresses. Each level should be made much, much wider and longer, and there should be more objectives to complete. The basic ones that are a prerequisite for earning medals, like saving little green men and collecting credits, are a far stretch from what should have been done.

Despite all this, not everything is about racing. In some stages, your mission is to explore the premises. Ice World, for example, has you searching the area because things have gone awry and plasma is all around. Trade World is one of my favorite levels to explore in the game. In the first variation of the stage, you have to lay waste to Fixer, who is causing trouble. In Bathyos, you slip underwater and chase after Blackfin. Other ordeals are sometimes tossed into the stages to mix things up. Canis Lunis' first incarnation forces you to defuse several bombs before they explode.

There's some good gameplay salvaged overall. Among the haste and repetition are some tense, fun moments. Yeah, it's silly that you have to chase after the boss once you've already found 'im, but the race thereafter provides some brutal situations. In some areas, the winding paths you have to run become very thin and difficult to navigate. If you fall off the ledge, perhaps in lava, you'll blast right back up into the air, high enough to land on the nearest plane of solid ground. Mines are also found in many areas. If you upset one, it will be quick to explode in your face.

In each stage, there are many power-ups for you to obtain. Although you come equipped with the basic laser, standard for any Space Ranger, you can upgrade your weaponry with an armada of other bonuses. There is an arc laser, an ice gun, proximity grenades, plasma gun, homing plasma gun, rocket launcher, and gatling gun. If you collect a power shield, you can both be protected from and cause harm if you're close enough to touch an enemy. There are also several other items that can help you, should you pick them up. Health boxes replenish lost energy, ammo reloads your guns, fuel gives your vehicle more power, and basic shields can protect you from specific kinds of harm.

In addition to guns, you can jump on and ride one of three different vehicles, which include the hoverboard, jet pack, and jet bike. Each of these requires fuel to use; once your fuel is gone, the vehicle will become useless and disappear. The hoverboard lets you move swiftly a few feet above the earth, the jetpack enables you to blast off the ground, and the jet bike moves you through a level extremely quickly. There are two other devices that will move you, the boost pad and teleporter. If you have the right amount of credits, you can run over a boost pad and it will launch you. The same goes for the teleporter -- if you have enough cash to spare, you can enter this, and it will warp you to a point further down the level. This is effective in catching up to or moving pass the boss.

There are nine separate stages and 14 different missions to play through. The missions are broken up into locations from Jo Ad, Flamar, Canis Lunis, Karn, Trade World, Ice World, Bathyos, Planet Z, and Zurg's Throne Room. If you're able to make it to the end, there's some giant, robotic "mech" action that awaits you. Making your way there shouldn't be much of a challenge, either, since the difficulty level isn't aimed at a professional gaming audience. Doing battle against the bosses takes only a few moments. Run around the arena, collect guns, ammo, and health, and blast like no tomorrow into your foes' sorry hides. A few seconds of this and they're history.

What really gets me in a twist is that this is, straight-up, a one-player adventure. No two-player mode. No stab at establishing replay value whatsoever. What you see is what you get, folks, and that's all she wrote. I want more!

Graphics The levels are nicely drawn with polygonal graphics and simple, cartoon-inspired textures. The 3D models of the characters, themselves, beg the idea that you're playing in an animated world, and the stages represent locations that appear in the show. Tossed in the pot are some pretty special effects that add flavor and spice, like the swirling colors that surround Buzz when he's obtained a Power Shield.

The camera, unlike in many other platformers, doesn't sway from left to right when things get in your path. This is often something that castrates video games, subtracting from fun. Luckily, it's not a problem here. The frame rate also stays nice and smooth throughout the most complicated areas.

Sound The music is very unnoticeable. I can't remember a single pair of notes from any of the tunes I heard. It wasn't bad, just very basic and forgettable. The basic sound effects range from mine explosions to "oooooh"s when you pick up one of the little green men. What grabs my attention most are the voice samples. Although better than the music, they're not over the top. Without having lovable star of "Home Improvement" behind Buzz's voice, things just don't feel the same. It's even worse than when Disney switched from Robin Williams to some nobody voice actor when it came time to produce the "Aladdin" TV series.

At least they have Bobcat Goldthwait! You gotta love this guy. He's the perfect comic relief for anything. Scrooged wouldn't have been the same without Bobcat, and Police Academy would have nothing. Not that Steve Gutenberg movies have much going for them, anyway. In fact, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command could have used more of Mr. Goldthwait. The other voice actors sound enthusiastic, but hey, I've got my preferences.

The Verdict

Disney/Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is a fun game. It's not quite what I'd expect from a platformer, but it's got some creative features. The racing thing isn't my bag, though. Traveller's Tales should have stuck to the basic formula and made this a recognizable platformer instead of tweaking elements here and there. It feels like the programmers couldn't make up their minds with what type of game they wanted this to be, so they threw a few ideas into a blender. In the end, the result doesn't leave me very satisfied.